Townsend on award shortlist
By Mark Stevens
31/1/17
Exeter Chiefs youngster Stuart Townsend has joined club-mate Sam Simmonds on this season’s Anglo-Welsh Cup Breakthrough Player Award shortlist after his impressive performance against Wasps at the weekend.
Scrum-half Townsend, along with James Chisholm of Harlequins, were judged by the statisticians at OPTA to have made the biggest impact in round three of this season’s competition.
They join Bath Rugby’s Zach Mercer, Josh Adams from Worcester Warriors, Tom Howe from Wasps and Simmonds, who were the first four players placed on the shortlist, after rounds one and
two.
The competition is open to the best Under-23 players in the Anglo-Welsh Cup with shortlisted players being named after each round. A public vote will decide the winner ahead of the Anglo-Welsh Cup Final, which is on Sunday 19 March at the Twickenham Stoop.
This year the competition is being supported by Citizen Watch UK who will provide the overall winner with the latest Citizen Skyhawk A-T watch and Gilbert who will supply £1,000 worth of kit to a grassroots club of the winner’s choice.
Reflecting on Townsend’s display, the 21-year-old was one of just three players at the weekend to both score and assist a try and with ball in hand overall made two clean breaks, gaining 29 metres, from just five carries while he proved a threat even when tackled by making two successful offloads. He was solid defensively too – he attempted seven tackles with a 100% success rate.
Townsend’s statistics:
Try: 1
Try Assist: 1
Carries: 5
Metres: 29
Clean Breaks: 2
Tackle Success: 100%
Tackles: 7
Offloads: 2
Launched in 2012, the Breakthrough Player Award celebrates and recognises those young players who have stood out in the tournament with previous winners Jack Nowell, Jonny May, Tom Collins and Ollie Devoto.
Using OPTA match statistics, a forward and back from each round, along with two players with outstanding overall competition statistics will form a shortlist, which will be submitted to a fan vote on www.new-heroes.com after Round 4 (4-6 February). The winner will be announced prior to the Anglo-Welsh Cup Final.